Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M15/00—Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
  • H04M15/90—Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP using Intelligent Networks [IN] or Advanced Intelligent Networks [AIN]
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M15/00—Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
  • H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
  • H04M3/42136—Administration or customisation of services
  • H04M3/42144—Administration or customisation of services by service provider
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q3/00—Selecting arrangements
  • H04Q3/0016—Arrangements providing connection between exchanges
  • H04Q3/0029—Provisions for intelligent networking
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M2201/00—Electronic components, circuits, software, systems or apparatus used in telephone systems
  • H04M2201/54—Object oriented software
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M2203/00—Aspects of automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
  • H04M2203/05—Aspects of automatic or semi-automatic exchanges related to OAM&P
  • H04M2203/052—Aspects of automatic or semi-automatic exchanges related to OAM&P software update
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M2207/00—Type of exchange or network, i.e. telephonic medium, in which the telephonic communication takes place
  • H04M2207/12—Type of exchange or network, i.e. telephonic medium, in which the telephonic communication takes place intelligent networks
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M2215/00—Metering arrangements; Time controlling arrangements; Time indicating arrangements
  • H04M2215/01—Details of billing arrangements
  • H04M2215/016—Billing using Intelligent Networks [IN] or Advanced Intelligent Networks [AIN]

Definitions

• the present invention is related generally to Intelligent Networks, and, more particularly, to a novel administration system for deploying service packages and components including executable programs and data to service nodes capable of service processing in a distributed intelligent network .
• a communications network serves to transport information among a number of locations.
• a commercial communications network such as the public switched telephone network, is owned by, and provides revenue to, a service provider. Subscribers pay the service provider for access to the communications services provided by the network.
• transport technologies used in communications networks and a variety of information types and formats that are commonly transported.
• a communications service involves real-time transport of information, such as data or voice signals, among locations served by the network.
• this basic service typically amounts to establishing a two-way voice channel among a pair of telephone service subscribers.
• more advanced services may be offered by some networks.
• a telephone network may provide enhanced features such as call forwarding or voice mail.
• a subscriber usually interacts with the network in some fashion, such as pressing a sequence of keys on a telephone keypad. By this interaction, the network performs desired functions at the request of each user or subscriber.
• User actions such as lifting the handset of a telephone receiver or pressing keys on a telephone keypad, are events that are recognized by the communications network. Other events, such as equipment fault alarms, may be generated internally by the network during its operation. The intelligence that controls the network, in whatever form, must receive and process these events and direct the network's traffic-handling elements to take appropriate action in providing services and recovering from partial network failures.
• a telephone network serves as a well understood example in the present context
• a data network may be used to transport information representing data files or video and audio data streams.
• Examples of enhanced services in a data network include data store -and- forward and multicast capabilities.
• Other types of network services may be directed at assisting a network owner with security, validation, and authentication of users and network administrators.
• Typical telecommunication networks are composed of nodes interconnected by communications links.
• Each node is a site that typically comprises equipment, such as a space -domain or time -domain switch or a packet- switching router, that is used to direct the flow of information.
• Many nodes also provide equipment that interfaces users to the network.
• Nodes are connected by transmission links so that information can flow from node to node and thereby travel from an origin node to a destination node via the network.
• Switching equipment, routers, and other equipment at the nodes in a network must be properly coordinated to ensure that information flow and other services are provided to satisfy the needs of the network users.
• the switches within the nodes of a typical telephone network are controlled by integrated or imbedded processors operated by proprietary software or firmware maintained by each switch manufacturer. Adding or modifying a service requires changes to be made in the software that controls a communications network.
• a switch manufacturer's software or firmware provides some or all of the function of service processing and other types of network- related processing. This means that when a network owner desires to implement a new service or modify an existing service, the software of every switch in the network must be revised by the various switch manufacturers .
• the fact that a large network usually contains a variety of switches from different manufacturers necessitates careful development, testing and deployment of the new software before release into a live traffic-bearing network.
• a new feature or function sometimes requires a change in a basic operating model or interface that is standardized within the communications industry. Changes of this magnitude may require ratification by industry standards groups - a process which can delay the introduction of a new feature by several years .
• IDNA network control architecture
• service processing is entirely removed from individual traffic-bearing elements, such as switches and routers. This eliminates the dependency of service function upon proprietary switch- resident software.
• service processing occurs in a "virtual machine” processing environment and processing functionality exists in the form of managed objects within this environment.
• a uni-fied platform for service creation, service test, and service deployment, and service processing is introduced offering many significant advantages .
• the terminology “resource complex” describes the collection of network components which must be controlled by an intelligent network control system to implement . services for users.
• the resource complex generally comprises switches, transmission equipment, and the like that directly handle and route information traffic through the network.
• the resource complex may also comprise so-called special resources such as automated voice response systems, voice mail systems, echo cancellors, data storage devices, and data conversion components, to name a few.
• a means for coordinating the deployment of managed objects and other components to service processors so as to implement new services without impacting the reliability of the network may entail, for example, checking of interdependencies among software elements that must be present in each service processor.
• some means is required for synchronizing and otherwise coordinating the activation of new services such that, at the instant of activation, an adequate number of service processors are equipped to cooperatively supply the new service.
• some means is desired for coordinating the deactivation of service processing components without impacting the operation of the network.
• a service creation environment is coupled to a service deployment and service processing environment
• some means is desired for ensuring the validity of the service components.
• some means is desired for providing both access security and version control of managed objects to protect the integrity of the service components.
• some means is desired for ensuring that a correct version of each managed object is deployed even if several versions of a given component may exist in the system at a given time. This is especially important because older versions of managed objects are likely to be kept for back-up and regression purposes and because newer unreleased versions will also be stored in the creation and deployment environment while being developed and tested.
• the present invention is directed to a communications system comprising a service administrator that controls the distribution of managed objects among service processing nodes.
• the service administrator maintains a repository known as a "global database of record” (DBOR) wherein service functions are stored as managed objects.
• DBOR global database of record
• the service administrator is responsible for naming, cataloging, distributing, activating, auditing, deactivating and removing of all managed objects and data used for service processing in a network.
• the communications network further comprises a service creation environment where managed objects may be developed and tested.
• the service creatior environment is coupled to the network through the service administrator.
• the service administrator provides both access security and version control for the managed objects that are stored in the database of record.
• Service creation is performed by retrieving managed objects from the DBOR via the service administrator.
• Managed objects that are newly created or modified in the service creation environment are also submitted to the service administrator for storage in the DBOR.
• the managed objects that are distributed to each service processing node are maintained in a local database of record at each node.
• the local database of record at each service processing node is an extract of the global DBOR maintained by the network service administrator component.
• the local database of record at each service processing node is maintained by at least one data management component.
• the data management component makes managed objects and other data available to service processors at the service processing node.
• the data ' management component serves as a persistent store for managed objects, operating data such as adjacent node connection information, and other data created during servi' processing.
• Data management component also controls the replication of managed objects within various service logic execution environments (SLEE's) at the service processing node.
• SEE's service logic execution environments
• Network engineers can implement rules within the data management component that determine how and when managed objects are replicated.
• the data management component checks for successful and accurate downloading of managed objects from the DBOR.
• the data management component likewise checks for accurate copying of managed objects among the service processors as needed.
• the network-wide service administration function and the data management component at each service processing node cooperate to ensure that managed objects that embody service functionality are correctly distributed and activated.
• the service administration and data management components may coordinate the distribution of managed objects based upon network hardware attributes, such as .the availability of specialized equipment at certain service processing nodes.
• a given service processing node may include a voice response unit as a special resource in its resource complex domain. Accordingly, specialized managed objects related to control and handling of traffic for this specialized resource is selectively distributed, activated and instantiated at this given service processing node.
• the local database of record for each node need not be burdened with maintaining the specialized managed objects in support of this special resource.
• the service administrator assumes the same control and monitoring functions of a traditional network management system (NMS) .
• NMS network management system
• the fault alarms that are normally reported by network equipment to a network management system are monitored and processed by the service administrator.
• the service administrator communicates directly with network equipment via control links and can exercise remote control of the operation of the equipment. From a practical standpoint, the service administrator shares much the same degree of connectivity with network service processing elements and traffic-handling equipment as the traditional NMS. Therefore, to avoid redundancy, it is advantageous to simply meld NMS functionality into the service administrator.
• the same DBOR that is used to store service function as managed objects can also store network data such as topology information and equipment identification indices. This integration is particularly advantageous in that current knowledge of network topology, equipment deployment and operating status can be used to responsively determine where and when to deploy the managed objects which implement service functions.
• the communications network further comprises a network operating system (NOS) that provides communications connectivity among functional elements of the communications network.
• NOS network operating system
• the NOS provides platform- independent and location- independent connectivity among network control components.
• the NOS comprises some additional functional components which are generally available to all network control elements to manage, for example, the utilization of instantiated managed objects among all the service processing environments in a network.
• Figure 1 is a logical and functional diagram of a telecommunications system employing an intelligent distributed network architecture in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention
• Figure 2 is a diagram depicting how required network control functions are mapped into functional components in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention
• FIG. 1 illustrates conceptually the functionality of the service administration component 500
• Figure 3 (b) illustrates the physical architecture of the service administration component 500
• Figure 3 (c) illustrates the general functional architecture of the Service Administration component 500 of the IDNA/NGIN system 100;
• Figure 3 (d) illustrates the scheme employed by SA for updating the DBOR.
• Figure 3 (e) illustrates the scheme employed by SA for distributing data from the DBOR to the data management components.
• Figure 3(f) illustrates the functional architecture of the Data Management component 600.
• Figures 3(g) - 3 (i) illustrate flow diagrams generally depicting the service creation and deployment phases of the IDNA/NGIN system.
• the present invention is directed to a service administrator that manages the development and deployment of managed objects in the context of a network control architecture that uses such objects.
• the service administrator assures the integrity of managed objects and other data needed for network control and service processing. This, in turn, ensures reliable operation of the network even as new services are implemented.
• the Wide Area Network (“WAN") 202 is a data communications system that supports the distribution of applications and data across a wide geographic area.
• the transport network used to implement WAN 202 is based upon Synchronous Optical NETwork ("SONET") and connects the service processing nodes 204, enabling the applications within those nodes to communicate with each other at high speeds.
• SONET Synchronous Optical NETwork
• Each service processing node 204 includes at least one service processor 172 and a resource complex.
• Figure 1 illustrates a service processing node 204 having a Resource Complex A ("RCA") 206 and a Resource Complex B ("RCB") 208.
• RCA Resource Complex A
• RBC Resource Complex B
• Several example user terminals 159 are shown in Figure 1 connected to RCA 206.
• ISDN terminal 159a, facsimile machine 159b, telephone 159c, and private branch exchange (PBX) 159d are all examples of equipment by which users access the services of network 200.
• a resource complex, such as RCA 206 comprises equipment that directly handles the user's information traffic transported by the network. The equipment and other resources within the resource complex are controlled by service processors to provide information transport and other services needed by the network users.
• Service processor 172 may be connected to one or more Adjunct Processors 210, which traditionally provide support functions, such as provisioning, billing and restoration. These functions may be absorbed by functionality provided by a Network Management System (“NMS”) 212. In the preferred embodiment, however, these support functions may be further subsumed in a centralized Service Administration (“SA”) system 500, as described later.
• SA Service Administration
• service processor 172 may be also linked to other service processors 172 via LAN 213, to other networks (not shown) , or to other devices (not shown) through a direct link 214 having signaling link 216 and bearer link 218.
• a direct link allows devices to send signaling directly to the service processor and avoid the latency and other constraints (such as data format) associated with submitting signaling through the resource complex.
• the service processor 172 is the "brain" of the service processing node 204 and is preferably a general purpose computer, which may range from a simple single processor computing system to a large scale computer network, depending on the processing requirements of the service processing node 204.
• the general purpose computer will have redundant processing, memory storage and connections .
• Each service processor 172 operates at least one service logic execution environment (SLEE) 173 wherein managed objects are instantiated and interact to accomplish service processing function.
• SEE service logic execution environment
• IP Intelligent Peripheral
• IP's 88 are generally in a separate Resource Complex, such as RCB 208, and are controlled by the service processors 172 in a similar manner as RCA 206.
• DSP Digital Signal Processing
• the Network Management System "NMS") " 212 is traditionally used to monitor and control hardware and services in the service processing 200.
• the NMS 212 implementation might be a Telecommunications Management Network ( "TMN” )- compliant framework which provides management of the components within the network 200.
• TTN Telecommunications Management Network
• a Managed Object Creation Environment (“MOCE”) 228 includes sub -components to create services that run in the communications network 200.
• SIBB Service Independent Building Block
• GUI Graphical User Interface
• the MOCE 228 is a unified collection of tools hosted on a single user environment or platform, alternately referred to as a Service Creation Environment (SCE) .
• SCE Service Creation Environment
• FIG. 2 is a Venn diagram useful for describing how functional elements of the present invention relate to functional elements needed for managing network data and computing resources .
• repository 230 serves as a central point of storage for all data, such as managed objects, routing tables or translation tables, needed by a communications network .
• Administrative function 595 in Figure -2 represents central control of deployment of data and managed objects to network service processors, as well as provisioning and activation of services.
• Node resource management (NODE RM) 575 refers to the real-time coordination of instantiated objects and data resources within the realm of a single service processing node.
• processors may be present at a service processing node and be connected by a local data network, such as a Local Area Network (LAN) .
• LAN Local Area Network
• NODE RM 575 is the function by which the first service object may readily find and employ the second object despite the fact that the second object is running on a different computer.
• Figure 2 refers to real-time coordination of instantiated objects and computing resources on a network-wide scale, i.e. among service processing nodes.
• a service creation environment especially a managed object creation environment (MOCE) 228, is included in
• Figure 2 to represent the point where managed objects are originally created and tested.
• an administrative function 595 and SYS RM 585 roughly corresponded to a single entity, namely NMS 212.
• NODE RM 575 roughly corresponds to a so-called ICP-NMS agent function 240 described in the IDNA architecture.
• Repository 230 and MOCE 228 are essentially equivalent to similarly named elements described in the IDNA architecture.
• the functions in Figure 2 are grouped differently, as follows :
• NOS network operating system
• repository 230 represents persistent storage of network data objects
• the outline of data manager (DM) 600 represents that persistent storage is also distributed among service processing nodes.
• administrative function 595 is integrated with repository 230 to form service administrator (SA) 500.
• SA 500 becomes a gatekeeper or librarian that protects the integrity of data objects stored in repository 230. Even MOCE 228 must go through SA 500 to store and retrieve data objects.
• the Service Administration component 500 is a component that performs all of the functions needed to manage, store, and distribute all services and service data used by service processing nodes and to configure both the hardware and software components throughout the network control system depicted in Figure 1.
• the SA component 500 is responsible for: cataloguing and storing the created objects and data from MOCE (Service Creation) 228; returning official copies of managed objects and data to MOCE 228 for service development purposes; receiving completed and tested service packages, SIBBs, SLPs or other service or data components 506 from MOCE 228; receiving customer order data 502 from order entry and other legacy systems 229 to provision the IDNA/NGIN system for use by customers; providing unique names to each service component; and, deploying managed objects and data to network service processors via Data Management functions 600, as will be described in greater detail herein .
• MOCE Service Creation
• Service Administration component 500 maintains the repos ⁇ tory 230.
• Repository 230 mainly includes a global Database of Record (“DBOR”) comprising all IDNA services and data from which each Data Management component 600 ultimately receives all of its data .
• Other responsibilities of Service Administration include: activating data and service components -512 to ensure that all data, SIBBs and managed objects or service logic programs SLPs are available for nodes via the Data Management component 600; registering the names of the data, SLPs and SIBBs 515 by feeding their logical names to a Network Operating System (“NOS”) component 700, to be described in detail below, for registration therewith; deactivating data and service components 518; and, removing data and services 521 from the IDNA/NGIN system via the Data Management component 600.
• NOS Network Operating System
• Service Administration additionally performs a configuration management function by maintaining the state of each SIBB and service (pretested, post-tested, deployed, etc.), in addition to versioning through its naming process. This ensures a service is not deployed until all components of that service have been successfully tested and configured.
• the Service Administration component 500 further performs the function of configuring and provisioning the IDNA/NGIN service nodes 204 in accordance with configuration information that SA receives. Particularly, based on the received configuration information, the SA component 500 determines the capabilities of each component at each service node 204, which services and data to distribute to which nodes, which services will run on which server (s) resident at the service node, and which data will be cached to local memory resident associated with IDNA/NGIN node server (s).
• SA deploys configuration rules contained in service profile (configuration) files 580 to a Local (node) Resource Manager ( "LRM” ) component 575 of the NOS system 700 for storage in the local LRM cache located at each service node.
• LRM Local Resource Manager
• these configuration files 580 determine which services to execute at an IDNA node.
• the LRM first reads this service profile file 580 stored in the local cache at that node, and determines a specific Service Layer Execution Environment (“SLEE”), e.g., a virtual machine, to run a service on in accordance with the rules in the service profile file and, which services are to run actively (as persistent objects) in the SLEE, or are to be instantiated only on-demand.
• SLEE Service Layer Execution Environment
• FIG 3 (b) illustrates a preferred physical architecture for Service Administration component 500. While Service Administration is a centralized function, it may be embodied as two or more redundant Service Administration sites, e.g., sites 550a, 550b, for reliability with each SA site comprising: SA Servers 560, which may comprise dual redundant processors with a shared disk array comprising the global DBOR 230; and, a personal computer (PC) or workstation 556a, b resident at each respective site 550a, 550b having an interface to enable user access to all Service Administration functions and particularly initiate data and service distribution to specified IDNA/NGIN service nodes, depicted in Figure 3(b) as service nodes 204.
• SA Servers 560 which may comprise dual redundant processors with a shared disk array comprising the global DBOR 230; and, a personal computer (PC) or workstation 556a, b resident at each respective site 550a, 550b having an interface to enable user access to all Service Administration functions and particularly initiate data and service distribution to specified I
• the aforementioned data and service distribution activation functions all execute on one or more SA Servers 560 found at each site.
• the components at each respective SA site 550a, b are connected by an Ethernet LAN 559, which, in turn, is linked to a WAN 566 for communication with the service nodes.
• the NGIN Data Management component 600 functions in both a service life- cycle and service utilization capacity.
• Service Administration component 500 maintains global database of record (repository) 230
• Data Management component 600 provides the local data store and data management functions for each IDNA/NGIN service processing node 204. This includes all types of data needed for service processing, such as: service programs and SIBBs, data for services (customer profiles, telephone numbers, etc.), multimedia files (such as audio files for Interactive Voice Response ("IVR") services), etc.
• the Data Management component 600 of a service node receives an extract of the SA global DBOR comprising all data needed for the services performed by the local NGIN service node as specified by Service Administration
• Figure 3 (c) illustrates a preferred physical embodiment highlighting the main functional components of and external interfaces to the Service Administration component 500 of the invention.
• the Service Administration component 500 comprises a Data Distribution sub- component 510 that: 1) provides for the reliable communications with external systems; 2) performs any data translation and formatting functions for receiving data from external systems and distributing data from SA to external systems, typically through the intermediary of a common Data Distribution Application Program Interface (DDAPI) 505; 3) extracts data ' from communications messages received from external systems for input to an Inventory Manager sub -component 516; 4) provides a multipoint distribution function for service/data packages with a store and forward feature and guaranteed delivery and recovery services; and 5) provides for the delivery of data sets in sequence, in addition to gap checking, duplicate ' checking, receipt acknowledgments, and ensures security of data transmissions.
• DDAPI Data Distribution Application Program Interface
• the input feeds to SA component 500 include: a feed 506 from MOCE/SCE 228 from which service components, packages and SIBB modules used to build services are fed; an Order Entry (“OE") feed 502 " from which customer data is input to perform service provisioning functions; and, one or more Environment Provisioning ( "EP” ) system feeds 508 from which user specifications are input to direct SA 500 on how and where to distribute the services created by the MOCE component 228.
• a feed 506 from MOCE/SCE 228 from which service components, packages and SIBB modules used to build services are fed
• OE Order Entry
• EP Environment Provisioning
• each service node ' component that is considered part of the NGIN service processing environment is specified with a service node profile, comprising that node's physical capabilities (e.g., storage capacity, memory capacity, computer processing capacity, etc.) .
• a user specifies, based on the service node profile (capabilities) of each service node, a service profile comprising which service objects (e.g., SLPs, SIBBs, data, etc.) are to be deployed to which SLEEs at which nodes, which data are to be deployed to which nodes, and, the local caching strategy of each SLEE and computer.
• service objects e.g., SLPs, SIBBs, data, etc.
• SA an Environment Manager sub- component 530 to specify the correct distribution of services and data. More specifically, the Environment Provisioning system interface is used to enter the service node profiles as well as direct the distribution of service profiles to the appropriate service nodes.
• Service nodes may be matched with service profiles automatically, based on the capabilities of the service node and the requirements of the service profile, however, a service profile may specify that a service node be selected manually. If a service profile requests that it be matched against service nodes manually, the service will not be distributed until the match is made using EP System 508. If the service profile requests that the service be distributed automatically, the service may be matched and distributed automatically, however, the Environment Provisioning interface may override this and change the distribution at a later time.
• the Data Distribution API 505 provides the standard interface for utilizing all of the SA functions and further interacts with the Data Distribution sub- component to provide guaranteed delivery/recovery services.
• the DDAPI 505 provides a standard message set for utilization by service administration clients, which are the local Data Management components of each service node.
• the SCE and EP system are also designed to interface with Service Administration via the DDAPI.
• Other external systems such as OE systems 229, may not designed to utilize DDAPI, and, consequently, a mediation process 511 may be used to adapt communications protocol and messaging formats of such external systems to the DDAPI 50.5.
• a mediation process 511 may be used to adapt communications protocol and messaging formats of such external systems to the DDAPI 50.5.
• Figure 3 (c) only a single DDAPI 505 and
• Data Distribution process 510 is required for all external interfaces. All external systems that interface with Service Administration have access to all of its functions, depending on the privileges allowed to each. This ensures that functions such as DBOR updates, for example, are all handled in the same manner, regardless of who initiates them, and, further, eliminates special case processing. This also ensures that the same data integrity checks that are provided to some systems (e.g., OE) are provided to other systems (e.g., Network Elements) , and further, encourages development of external systems to interface with Service Administration.
• OE e.g., OE
• the SA component 500 comprises the following sub - components : as Inventory Manager 516; a DBOR Manager 520; an Environment Manager 530; an Audit and Reconciliation Manager 535, and, a Monitoring and Logging Manager 540.
• Inventory Manager 516 a DBOR Manager 520
• Environment Manager 530 an Audit and Reconciliation Manager 535
• Monitoring and Logging Manager 540 The functions of each of these will now be explained in greater detail .
• the Inventory Manager sub -component 516 receives all data entities from external sources, via the Data Distribution process 510. These data entities include services and SIBBs from Service Creation, service data and customer data from order entry system feeds 502, and environment configuration and provisioning specifications from Environment Provisioning feeds 508.
• the Inventory Manager 516 provides a unique name to each data entity received according to a pre -determined naming convention. This includes multiple versions of the same data entity. Inventory
• Inventory Manager also ensures data integrity among the data received from multiple sources, and resolves any conflicts. For example, if Inventory Manager receives, from two different OE sources, two different network terminations (resolved from having applied any intelligent routing features) for the same customer toll-free telephone number, Inventory Manager will detect this by performing an audit on each received data entity. Upon detection, it may either perform a resolution algorithm (e.g., keep the network termination with the most recent date/time stamp) , or, notify the user of the conflict. Inventory Manager then stores the named data entity in the DBOR 230. It uses a DBOR Manager 520 to actually store the data in the DBOR. The Inventory Manager also notifies the Environment Manager of any updates to the DBOR. The DBOR Manager 520 provides a single interface to the
• DBOR 230 for the multiple functional components of Service Administration and performs all database management functions (add, delete, retrieve, modify, etc.) .
• the DBOR may actually comprise multiple databases for the purpose of storing multiple types of data: SLPs for services, SIBBs, datasets for customer and service data, multi -media data for IVR services, etc.
• the DBOR comprises both object databases and relational databases. These databases may be provided by different vendors, and, therefore, require different command sets for performing database management functions.
• the DBOR Manager 520 encapsulates these variations from the other Service Administration components, so that any component that needs a DBOR function performed simply implements a common command set provided by the DBOR Manager, and a data entity name.
• the DBOR Manager 520 uses the data entity name provided, and adapts the requested command to a format used by the specific database type, to perform the requested function. There are three Service Administration sub-components that interface with the DBOR Manager: Inventory Manager 516, Environment Manager 530, and an Audit and Reconciliation Manager 535.
• the Environment Manager sub-component 530 is responsible for deploying services and data from the DBOR to the local Data Management components at the NGIN service nodes. It does this by first determining which service/data entities needs to be distributed to which nodes; then issuing the appropriate distribution commands, along with the data entities extracted from the DBOR, to Data Distribution. Environment provisioning specifications that are input by a user via the EP system feeds 508, are stored in the DBOR and are used by the Environment Manager to determine distribution. In this way, Service
• the Environment Manager 530 may be additionally notified by either the Inventory Manager or the DBOR Manager, whenever the DBOR is modified, for example, when a service has been replaced with a new version.
• the Environment Manager 530 ensures that each service node that is impacted gets updated (i.e., receives the new service version) .
• receives notification of a DBOR update it identifies each service node that uses the updated data or that provides the updated service and then distributes the updates to the local Data Management components at each impacted service node as described herein.
• the Audit and Reconciliation (A/R) Manager 535 ensures data synchronization among the DBOR and its multiple extracts by running auditing routines to compare the data in the DBOR 230 with data in any of various DBOR extracts. It then determines corrective actions to re- sync the multiple databases. To implement these actions, the A/R Manager generates a data package containing data and commands to process these data. This data package is then provided to whichever databases is needed to implement the corrective action to re -sync the multiple databases.
• this may be accomplished as follows: 1) during system idle time, it may run an auditing routine to look for and resolve any discrepancies between the data in the DBOR and the data in a DBOR extract, which may reside in a local Data Management database at a service node; and, 2) during real-time call processing, if a service application finds -a discrepancy, e.g., a service application is given a key for a data lookup in Data Management, queries a database with this key, but finds no record, the application generates an alarm. This alarm is sent to the A/R Manager 535, which resolves the discrepancy.
• the Monitoring and Logging sub- component 540 is a process which monitors the performance and stability of Service Administration processes, and logs certain or all events performed so that a user can later see what data was deployed to which nodes and when, for example.
• the global DBOR 230 may be one or more physical databases, partitioned to store and manage the many different types of data and services including: SLPs, SIBBs, service data and customer data, e.g., customer profiles including call record information, faxes and routing plans, and, multimedia files including voice mail messages and other audio and video files or objects for interactive services. While a plurality of DBORs may exist for redundancy and -survivability, the DBOR 230 is a single logical storage of all NGIN services and data, for distribution to any and all other NGIN functional components and processes.
• the SA component 500 implements the NOS component 700 to provide communications among the different Service Administration processes.
• the DDAPI 505 uses NOS services to provide a message set that uses the communications mechanisms of NOS to enable interfaces between external systems and Data Distribution 510, and between Data Distribution 510 and the other SA sub- components .
• the NOS 700 is not required for communications among the Inventory Manager, Environment Manager, A/R Manager, and DBOR Manager components as these processes, in a preferred physical embodiment, are designed to run on the same computing system. It should be understood that even in a distributed computing environment in which these processes run on different computing systems, these processes may communicate with each other using other internal APIs and communications protocols., e.g., TCP/IP sockets.
• SA 500 is responsible for naming and performing versioning of services and data. That is, SA provides a unique name to every version of every service/data entity prior to storing the service/data entity in the DBOR 230, so that multiple versions of the same service/data entity may be maintained.
• This user name provides a way for MOCE/SCE to identify the component, in their terms; this user name is then uniquely identified with the single logical name, (i.e., a common reference) .
• SA implements a naming structure convention when naming new or modified components and, preferably maintains a mapping among the user name and the logical system unique names.
• SA may provide the user name, in addition to the logical system unique name.
• service administration component 300 is responsible for service provisioning, i.e., provisioning services with data needed to provide those services.
• This type of data is input to SA from the Order entry feed 502 and is stored in the global DBOR 230 prior to distribution to Data Management 600.
• This type of data may include, but is not limited to, customer profile data, such as customer service options, customer name and account data, terminating telephone numbers, call routing data, and any data potentially needed to process and complete a call for a service.
• customer profile data such as customer service options, customer name and account data, terminating telephone numbers, call routing data, and any data potentially needed to process and complete a call for a service.
• customer profile data such as customer service options, customer name and account data, terminating telephone numbers, call routing data, and any data potentially needed to process and complete a call for a service.
• customer profile data such as customer service options, customer name and account data, terminating telephone numbers, call routing data, and any data potentially needed to process and complete a call for a service.
• service options routing features, multi -media file identifiers
• the SA component 500 is responsible for service support provisioning, i.e., configuring of the NGIN processing environments (hardware, operating systems, SLEE(s), sites, site LANs and inter-site WANs) and the provisioning of data that specifies these configurations.
• NGIN processing environments hardware, operating systems, SLEE(s), sites, site LANs and inter-site WANs
• each IDNA/NGIN service node has an associated service node profile that is input to SA via the Environment Provisioning sub-component 508 ( Figure 3(c)) and specifies the capabilities of the computing system, the functions the computing system is allocated, and the types of services that may be supported at that service node.
• An example service node profile which may be embodied as a formatted data file in SA, is depicted in Table 1 as follows:
• a node name an operating system for the computer executing service logic programs, the amount of memory, disk and data communication units, an indication that the node is capable of receiving customer specific data from SA (data management access) and, that the node can support special service features, for example, voice playback capability.
• SA data management access
• a service profile which may be embodied as a formatted data file in SA, that specifies that service's requirements and to which SLEE(s) and/or computers within the network it should be deployed.
• An example service profile for a particular service to be deployed in the network is depicted in Table 2 as follows:
• a service profile name e.g., service #1001 for a customer X
• amount of processing units, memory, and disk space required to execute the service when instantiated e.g., amount of processing units, memory, and disk space required to execute the service when instantiated
• a node instantiate field (s) specifying a time range when a particular service (embodied as a service logic program, for example) is to be instantiated according to a predetermined business rule(s) specified in Service Administration, and a corresponding min/max field (s) indicating the minimum and maximum number of those service objects (SLPs) that may be instantiated by NOS during the specified time range
• SLPs service objects
• special requirements field indicating for example, that the service requires a particular service node capability, e.g., voice playback
• a service start data and service end date e.g., voice playback
• SA may distribute the service (and service profile) of the example service 1001 of Table 2 to the service node having the service node profile depicted in Table 1, as the node clearly has the memory requirements and the voice playback support.
• example service #1001 depicted in the service profile in Table 2 requires a data set from customer X that would comprise, inter alia, a voice playback service announcement specific to that service #1001 provided by customer X.
• the SA component 500 will receive data via order entry feed 307 that includes the customer X voice playback announcement, and SA's inventory manager will assign it as a data set #1001, for example, for storage in the DBOR 230. In this manner, SA may automatically distribute the dataset #1001 to the service node(s) providing the service #1001 for customer X.
• service node profiles e.g., Table 1
• service profiles e.g., Table 2
• SA Service node profiles
• service profiles e.g., Table 2
• a part of the service support provisioning function is to determine which service to instantiate as a persistent object (to run actively) on which SLEE, with rules based on one or more criteria including, for example, load balancing among service nodes, network call routing efficiencies, and service demand.
• An example of this service support provisioning function now follows. As some services are more time- sensitive than others, the degree of tolerance callers may have for delays in a certain type of service may be used to determine whether that service runs actively in ' the SLEE as a persistent object, for example, and whether data for that service is to be cached to local memory to reduce latency. When considering service demand, a certain service may see peak demands, for instance, at night.
• the SA 500 thus allows a user to specify an SLP for this service to run actively (be instantiated as a persistent object in the SLEE) ' from 5:00 pm to 12:00 midnight, local time per each site, for example, and be instantiated only on-demand at other times.
• a rule in the service profile file (Table 2) generated by SA will reflect this.
• the SA component 500 is responsible for distributing services and data to the local Data Management functional component at the selected " IDNA/NGIN system nodes, in accordance with the strategies specified by the user. These strategies are embodied as specifications in the service package created in the Service Creation Environment 228, and also as specifications input by the user via the SA 500 as part of its service support provisioning function.
• SA includes the ability of SA to track the current state "(e.g., tested, deployed) of data, SIBBs, and SLPs. Not only does it track the state, but additionally tracks the current versions of data, SIBBs, and SLPs and the various components (i.e., data, SIBBs, and SLPs) needed to create a specific version (including the various dependencies) of a service.
• SA stores each version of a service (i.e., including all SLPs encapsulated in a service SLP) and, moreover, tracks the configuration (e.g., physical address) of the various Data Management repositories, e.g., DBOR extracts, across the IDNA/NGIN network.
• the SA component 500 tracks services and data that have been distributed, in order to ensure integrity. For example, if a service is successfully deployed to a node, but distribution of the data needed for that service fails, SA detects this and either retries the data distribution or notifies the user. If after a predefined, configurable number of retries, the designated repository is unable to receive the distribution, SA generates an alarm and stores the pending distribution.
• SA is also responsible for: 1) distributing SLPs, SIBBs and data to a network integration test environment for end-to--end testing; 2) enabling an authorized user to configure a preset time for a distribution; e.g., now (on-demand), noon today, 3 p.m. tomorrow; 3) initiating distributions based on a preset time; e.g., deploying a voice file at 1:15 a.m.
• SLP, SIBB or data entity, SA ensures that when the distribution is received, the existing data is not overwritten in Data Management; 10) receiving status indications of successful or unsuccessful distributions from Data Management and, updating the status of all data based on the successful/unsuccessful distribution status indications received from Data Management; and 1 . 1) logging all distributions to Data Management.
• the SA component 500 is responsible for activating services that are successfully deployed to service nodes, i.e., making the data, SLP or SIBB available for Service processing.
• the requirements pertaining to SA service/data activations and the handling required when errors occur include the following: 1) ensuring that all distribution dependencies (defined in the MOCE/SCE 228) are complete prior to allowing activation of SLPs, SIBBs or data.
• An example of a dependency may be that an SLP requires use of a specific database.
• the SA thus ensures that the database has been distributed and activated prior to allowing activation of the SLP; 2) checking the status of the distribution to its designated repositories prior to activation of an SLP, SIBB or data entity; 3) determining, based on distribution status, dependencies, completion status and predefined distribution rules whether the data previously distributed can be activated at all locations which successfully received the distribution.
• SA will attempt to send an activation request to Data Management; 4) checking the status of a designated repository (by querying the NGIN NOS) prior to sending activation requests; 5) attempting the activation on all designated repositories reporting an on-line indication, and, if a designated repository is reporting an offline indication, storing the activation request for that repository for future forwarding and not attempt the activation on that repository. If a designated repository reports an online indication and for some reason is unable to process the activation request, SA retries the activation to that repository. If after a predefined, configurable number of retries the designated repository is unable to process the activation request, SA generates an alarm and stores the pending activation.
• SA determines, based on predefined distribution rules and the activation responses received from Data Management 600, whether the data has been activated at enough locations to make it available to service control managed objects. If Service Administration determines that the data may be made available to service control, SA registers the system unique data name and physical data locations of all successful distribution and activation locations with the NOS. If the data activated is to replace existing data in the network, SA ensures a smooth transition process of completing existing service processing on the old data while initiating new service processing on the new data. The old data becomes deactivated once all service processing completes on it, as will be explained in greater detail herein. More specifically, as part of the service/data activation step, SA implements a trigger which causes the downloading of the service profile at the appropriate time.
• a service profile (e.g., as shown in Table 2) is downloaded to a service node
• the service profile includes the service start and end times.
• the service profile is downloaded to the service node by provisioning the information into Data Management, as will be described in further detail with respect to Figure 3 (f ) .
• the NOS acting as a DM Client, is notified of the change in service profile information via the DM API.
• SA sends a message to a NOS Name Translation ("NT") function in each SLEE on which the service will execute to direct a name translation function to re-point the logical name for the service to the physical address or object reference of the version that is being activated.
• NT NOS Name Translation
• the SA tracks repository platform characteristics to ensure that when data, SIBBs or SLPs are activated, they work on the appropriate platform " ; updates the status of the data, SIBB or SLP based on an activation or deactivation; and, logs all activations of data, SLPs and SIBBs with the monitoring logic component 540 ( Figure 3 (c) ) .
• Figures 5(g) and 5 (h) illustrate a scenario of steps in constructing and deploying an SLP for the IDNA/NGIN system, e.g., for a 1-800 Collect ("1-800-C") service.
• the MOCE/SCE application program enables the user to access from SA all of the SIBB, SLP, data and other building blocks that are necessary for the creation of the 1-800-C SLP.
• building blocks may include: a play audio building block, a collect digits building block and a voice recognition building block. Copies of these appropriate building blocks are pulled from the global DBOR 230 by SA into the MOCE/SCE to provide the foundation for developing the 1-800-C Service Logic Program, as indicated at step 814, Figure 3(g) . Then, as indicated at step 819, the 1-800-C Service Logic Program and all associated data such as voice files are unit tested within the MOCE/SCE environment.
• the 1-800-C Service Logic Program i-s end-to-end tested in a lab environment which closely resembles the real-time MCI network to ensure that the Service Logic Program will execute correctly once distributed in the network.
• the 1-800-C Service Logic Program is submitted to the Service Administration for naming and cataloging in the manner described in detail herein, prior to its distribution.
• the Service Administration component allows the introduction of rules governing data and information distribution, data activation and data removal.
• the SA component checks the rules that specify the Data Management repositories that are to receive the Service Logic Program and, the rules regarding the minimum number of repositories that must receive the distribution prior to allowing activation of the 1-800-C SLP.
• Service Administration checks the status of the Data Management repositories by accessing the NOS Network Resource Management function.
• the Service Administration component determines those DM repositories indicating "On-line" status, and, at step 835, distributes the 1-800-C SLP to all the DM repositories that are on-line. For those repositories reporting an off-line status, Service Administration stores the distribution for future forwarding to the off-line repository, as indicated at step 837. Then, as indicated at step 840, the Service Administration component waits unit Data Management returns a status for each repository indicating the success or failure of the distribution. A determination is made at step 842 to determine whether the confirmation has been received from the respective DM repository. If the confirmation is not received, the SA waits for the confirmation as indicated at step 844. Once the .
• Step 845 a determination is made by Service Administration as to whether the 1-800-C SLP can be activated at all repositories where the distribution was successfully received.
• Service Administration makes the determination of whether the 1-800-C SLP may be activated based on the combination of the following activation criteria: 1) the distribution status, 2) the data dependency status and 3) predefined rules. This is because Service Administration 500 performs the function of ensuring that all data dependencies of the service logic program are completed; i.e., distributed and activated, prior to allowing activation of an SLP dependent on such data.
• Service Administration ensures that the other SLP or database has been distributed and activated prior to allowing activation of the 1- 800 -C SLP.
• Service Administration ensures that the other SLP or database has been distributed and activated prior to allowing activation of the 1- 800 -C SLP.
• some services may be activated even if all designated repositories do not receive the distribution of the Service Logic Program. This is dependent on several factors including: the expected call volume, and the quality of service, as specified in the distribution and activation rules in SA. For example, it may be sufficient for a particular low- call volume service to only be stored on two DM repositories in the network prior to being activated while others require that the service be located on all designated repositories before it can be activated to receive traffic.
• step 847 a determination is then made based on the satisfaction of the activation criteria. If the SLP can not be activated, SA will wait until the SLP activation criteria are satisfied, as indicated at step 848. Otherwise, as indicated at step 852, SA sends an activation request to all designated Data Management repositories. Then, as indicated at step 854, Data Management processes the activation request and forwards an activation response for each repository to Service Administration indicating the success or failure of the activation. Based on the successful activation responses received from Data Management, Service Administration registers the 1-800-C SLP system unique name and physical data locations with NOS, as indicated at step 855, and, in the example context, the 1-800-C Service is now available for utilization.
• the SA component 500 provides for the decommissioning and removing of service components from service nodes.
• the major steps involved are planning, de-activation, de- installation and/or de- commissioning of its associated parts, and the testing for adverse consequences.
• service administration will remove, i.e., de- activate the service, typically by sending a message to NOS NT enables removal of a service from IDNA/NGIN service nodes by sending a message to the local Data Management component to delete that service.
• the requirements pertaining to the SA function of deactivation and removal of services/data include: 1) enabling an authorized user to request deactivation of an SLP, SIBB or data entity and to specify a time for a deactivation; 2) checking the status and data dependencies of the SLP, SIBB, or data prior to forwarding a deactivation request to Data Management.
• SA de-registers the SLP, SIBB or data with the NOS upon reaching the specified time rendering the SLP, SIBB or data as no longer available for Service Processing; 3) upon completion of the name de- registration with the NOS, forwarding a deactivation request of the specific SLP, SIBB or data item to Data Management.
• SLP, SIBB 'or data status is not active or if data dependencies exist, SA ignores the deactivation request and notifies the requester; 4) logging all deactivations of data, SLPs and SIBBs; 5) enabling an authorized user to request the removal of an SLP, SIBB or data entity and specifying a time for a removal; and 6) checking the status of the SLP, SIBB or data prior to forwarding a removal request to Data Management. If the status of the SLP, SIBB or data is deactivated, SA forwards the removal request to Data Management upon reaching the specified time. If the status of the SLP, SIBB or data is not deactivated, SA ignores the removal request and notifies the requester; and, 7) logging all removals of data, SLPs and SIBBs from Data Management.
• a trigger in SA 500 causes SA to download the command to remove the service profile from the service node at the appropriate time.
• This command is delivered to .the service node by a command to Data Management 600.
• Data Management updates its tables, which results in NOS, acting as a DM Client, to receive notification of the service change.
• Figure 3 (i) illustrates the service de-activation process with reference to the example of a provisioned 1-800 Collect SLP service.
• the first step 860 involves the decision to withdraw the 1-800-C Service Logic Program and the utilization of the MOCE/SCE to test the impact of removing the 1-800-C Service Logic Program.
• SA verifies the rules regarding the withdrawal of the 1-800-C Service Logic Program.
• Service Logic Program Particularly, Service
• Step 867 Management processes the deactivation request, as indicated at step 867 and sends a deactivation response to SA indicating the success or failure of the deactivation.
• SA de-registers the 1-800-C SLP with the NOS, as indicated at step 868, to ensure that the 1-800- C SLP is no longer available for service processing. Future service requests will thus not be able to use the 1-800-C SLP.
• SA allows an authorized agent to specify a time for removing all the 1-800-C SLPs from all Data Management repositories where they reside.
• SA sends a removal request to all Data Management repositories containing the 1-800-C SLP, and, as indicated at step 870, Data Management deletes the 1-800-C Service Logic Program from its repositories, rendering the 1-800-C service no longer available.
• the SA component 500 is responsible for performing audits. Before a service or data entity is entered into the DBOR, Service Administration audits that entity with other service/data entities already in use, to ensure no conflicts exist. Likewise, before a service/data entity is distributed to service nodes, it is audited to ensure no conflicts exist. Service administration provides both process- triggered audits and schedule- triggered audits of both services and data in the DBOR 230 that is deployed to service nodes.
• a process triggered audit is an audit which is initiated as a result of an unexpected failure. For example, if SA tries to download a service profile and the download is rejected because the profile already exists, SA initiates an audit to determine what to do. For example, SA compares the service which already exists against the one that is supposed to be downloaded to determine if they are the same, or different. If they are the same, the audit might stop there. If they are different, the audit process initiates a delete of the existing' profile and then downloads the correct one.
• Schedule- triggered audits are triggered in accordance with a pre-defined schedule, or in accordance with programmed rules that launch auditing routines during system idle time, or on-demand by a user. These SA audit rules are kept as compiled code in the SA system 500, and as interpreted rules which are processed inside the- SA system.
• Data Management component 600 of the SA component that provides local data storage and management functions for each IDNA/NGIN service node.
• Data Management stores data received from Service Administration in one or more databases, and makes services/data readily available for Service Control environment by caching the needed data to memory resident in the Service Control computers, or on a co- located database server so the services/data may be provided to a Service Control service with minimal latency.
• the Data Management component 600 performs the real-time storage, replication, synchronization, and availability of data whether received from Service Administration or received as a result of service processing.
• These Data Management functions may be further categorized as: 1) a Data Repository function; 2) a Data Manipulation function; 3) a Data Utility function; and 4) a Billing Record Generation function .
• the Data Repository function comprises all specific functionality required for the storage of IDNA/NGIN data.
• a repository is a physical device that stores all different types of information; e.g., voice files, objects, SLPs, SIBBs, and databases.
• Data Management functionality takes into account security, fault and configuration management of repositories.
• the repository storage aspect of Data Management includes the ability to: 1) store persistent data, SIBBs, SLPs, audio files, call context data, schedule data, configuration data, name service data, text files, e.g., faxes; 2) retain specified data for a configurable period of time, e.g., call context data may be stored for a couple of days before deletion from the repositories; 3) automatically delete the specified data from its repositories upon expiration of the retention period; and, 4) provide support for multiple versions of repository data.
• Data Management 600 may check the status of its repositories to ensure that* queries and distributions are only made to on-line repositories. Thus, if a repository is taken off-line, queries and distributions will not be attempted on that repository.
• Data Management may: query the status of repositories, e.g., ascertain a utilization status which provides an indication of how busy each repository is in terms of the number of transactions its currently processing; forward the repository status information to NOS 700 at initialization, and as status changes occur; provide an alarm if a repository is taken off-line or is non- functional; and, notify the NOS 700 that no further queries or updates should be sent to a repository reporting an off-line indication.
• Data Management provides for configuration management, fault management, and log management of the data repositories.
• the DM function pertaining to configuration management enabling an authorized user to: define and extend the schema of the data repositories; query and modify system resources -allocated for a repository; and, query and modify a repository's indexing strategies.
• the DM function pertaining to fault detection and report generation for the maintenance of data repositories includes: enabling the definition of fault thresholds and notifications for the system resources allocated to a repository; enabling the detection and reporting of media failures within a repository; enabling the definition of fault thresholds and notifications for the percent full of a repository's capacity; enabling the definition of fault thresholds and notifications for the percent full of a repository's log; and, providing a notification of when a repository or one of its components (e.g., schema, repository data) is corrupted.
• a repository or one of its components e.g., schema, repository data
• the DM f.unctions pertaining to the establishment and management of logs on the repositories owned by Data Management include: the ability to log capabilities on repositories, including the following types of logs: (a) Transaction logs; (b) Error logs; and, (c) Event logs, and to save these logs on an external medium.
• Data Management may retain log data for a configurable period of time before reinitializing the log.
• an authorized user may query and modify characteristics (e.g., size, field descriptions, event reporting) of logs on a repository, and, specify the data that is to be written to each log. For example, due to the volume of transactions, a user may only want to capture "write" transactions in the transaction log versus all transactions.
• the Data Manipulation function of DM comprises all specific functionality required for receiving distributions of data, replicating data across repositories, querying, retrieving, and updating data in repositories, initiating abort and roll back transactions, and performing data audits.
• This functionality may be broken down into the following areas: a) Data Distribution; b) Data Replication; c) Data Retrieval and Update; d) Data Transactions; and, e) Data Audits, each of which is described herein.
• Data Distribution refers to the disbursement of data or services from Service Administration to the Data Management 600.
• DM receives data distributions from Service Administration; reports on the state of data deployed in the system; makes data available for use by services; and, deactivates and removes data stored by Data Management.
• DDAPI data server
• DBOR extract repository and DBOR extract manager components ( Figure 3(f)) of DM 600, Data Management is enabled to receive distributions of data, file definitions, SLPs and SIBBs from Service Administration. If the capacity of the repository has been exceeded, any further attempts to receive data distributions will fail however, without blocking access to data in the repository.
• processes running in the DM server respond to SA with a signal indicating success or failure of the distribution. If there is a data distribution failure, DM may undo any portion of the distribution that was completed.
• an activation request signal is distributed from SA to indicate that data has been successfully distributed to a minimum number of repositories and is to be made "active" for Service processing.
• Data Management responds to receipt of an activation request with an activation response indicating success or failure, which is sent back to Service Administration upon a respective successful/unsuccessful activation of the data, SIBB or SLP.
• the DM is also able to receive and process a deactivation request from Service Administration which is sent from SA to make a specific data, SLP or SIBB unavailable for Service processing.
• Data Management responds to a deactivation request with a deactivation response indicating the success or failure of the requested deactivation to Service Administration " .
• the DM is additionally able to receive and process a removal request signal from Service Administration which specifies that DM is to remove specific data from the designated repository. DM sends a removal response indicating the success or failure of a removal request back to Service Administration. It should be understood that activation, deactivation, and removal requests may be for an SLP, SIBB or a data entity.
• the Data Replication function of DM includes all specific functionality required for replicating ' data to specific locations, i.e., service node data repositories, i.e., local server caches, and to notify the NOS of successful/unsuccessful replications.
• the IDNA/NGIN system replicates data based on defined replication policies provided by SA configuration files. As described herein, the term "replication" refers to the act of copying data from one repository to another for ' data written as part of service processing.
• Data Management replicates data to other repositories when data is updated during Service Processing.
• Data Management determines a set of locations where data is to be replicated based on established replication rules provided by SA in configuration files for the data entity and, ensures that attempts to replicate repository data when the capacity of the targeted repository has been exceeded will fail without blocking access to existing data in the repository. If the replication fails due to excessive capacity,- Data Management notifies the NOS component that the specific data is not available at this repository to ensure that no further attempt to retry the replication to that repository is performed. If a replication to a repository fails for reasons other than capacity, Data Management may retry the failed replication on the repository.
• Data Management If after a predefined, configurable number of retries, the repository is still unable to receive the replication, Data Management generates an alarm and notifies the NNOS component that the specific data being replicated is unavailable at this repository. This ensures that no queries are done on this data at this location.
• a synchronization utility may thus be implemented to get the repositories back in synchronization .
• the Data Retrieval and Update functionality includes the ability to access data stored by Data Management during service processing.
• Data Management receives data requests from an executing managed object instance in the SLEE, e.g., through the NOS, during service processing.
• Data Management specifically notifies the requester (e.g., managed object) if it is unable to understand the data request. If the data reques.t is for the retrieval of a data entity, Data Management returns the requested data to the requester (e.g., via NOS).
• NOS any support that is needed for manipulating and querying data in a single repository or across multiple repositories.
• Data Management additionally supports the collection and collation of the results of queries that span multiple repositories.
• DM If DM is unable to locate the name of the requested entity in the data retrieval request, DM notifies the NOS component. The NOS component will also be notified if a database failure occurs during the retrieval of a data entity. Data Management additionally notifies the requester (executing service control object) of the inability to retrieve a specific data entity from a valid name. If the data request is for an update of a data entity, Data Management updates the data entity and determines if replication is required. DM notifies the requester if it is unable to update a data entity specified in a data request, and additionally notifies NOS if it is unable to locate the name of the requested entity in the data update request.
• DM notifies the NOS of a database failure during the update of a data entity. If the data request is for the deletion of a data entity, DM deletes the data item and determines if the transaction needs to be initiated on other repositories.
• a transaction is defined as a sequence of operations on a set of data that transforms the data from one consistent state to another consistent state. Examples of transaction include: entering data, updating existing data, deleting data, and copying data.
• DM is able to initiate a transaction on a repository, abort a transaction that has been initiated, provide notification if a transaction failure occurs, and, log all transaction failures.
• Data Management additionally implements a recovery strategy by returning the data controlled by a transaction to its previous state as a result of a transaction failure, and re- execute a failed transaction as a result of a transaction failure. Any recovery strategy implemented may be defined at the time of initiating a transaction, or, when the failure occurs.
• Data Management is further provisioned to enable a transaction to time-out and hence fail, according to a predetermined time-out parameter specified at the time of initiating a transaction.
• Further data transaction functionality includes: the capability to participate in multiple transactions at a time; the provision of transaction concurrency resolution mechanisms that support blocking of concurrency collisions with queuing of pending transactions; the generation of an indication signal if any of the transaction data gets modified outside of the context of the transaction (i.e., is corrupted); the capability to roll back the state of its data while participating in a transaction; and, the capability to roll back all operations performed while participating in a transaction.
• the Data Auditing functionality of the IDNA/NGIN system includes the provision of an audit/recovery environment for repository data.
• an "audit” is the process of testing synchronization between two or more copies of repository data and reporting the results.
• "Recovery” is the set of actions taken as a result of an audit to bring the copies into synchronization.
• all data that is made persistent and/or replicated may be audited.
• a primary copy model is established and considered to be correct for the purposes of audit and recovery. Data Management thus is able to designate the primary copy of a repository.
• DM is further enabled to audit data across multiple repositories, log all audit discrepancies, provide a notification of audit discrepancies, and, provide automatic recovery based on a defined set of rules related to an identified discrepancy.
• Data Management may schedule data audits.
• data utility refers to functionality required to shutdown and initialize a repository, backup stored data, recover data following a catastrophic event, synchronize data between repositories, and, monitor and maintain data repositories.
• Data Management is additionally enabled to shutdown (take off-line) a repository for maintenance or recovery purposes .
• a mechanism is provided for monitoring the percent utilization of a data repository. Utilities are thus provided that allows an authorized user to maintain the data repositories, including a utility for optimizing disk space and for cleaning up of logs.
• Data Management may additionally backup and restore a repository using the local operating system's file commands. A repository may be recovered without loss of information.
• Data Management is provided with an additional utility for archiving repository data to an external medium; synchronizing repository data across multiple repositories; synchronizing a subset of data (partial synchronization) across multiple repositories, and, bringing a repository on-line.
• Billing Record Generation functionality for the NGIN system includes the gathering of network events,' formatting the network events into the appropriate (call history) records, transmitting the formatted records to the appropriate location, and identifying potentially fraudulent calls.
• the Billing Record Generation function is responsible for formatting and transmitting the information that will be used to bill customers for services, its accuracy is certified.
• call history records may be used to capture information used for the generation the following types of records: call detail records (CDRs) which capture network event information on shared lines; private network records (PNRs) which capture event information on private lines (e.g., VNET) ; operator service records (OSRs) used to capture information when shared lines are used for operator services; and, private operator service records (POSRs) which capture information when private lines are used for operator services.
• CDRs call detail records
• PNRs private network records
• OSRs operator service records
• PSRs private operator service records
• PSRs private operator service records
• PSRs private operator service records
• PSRs private operator service records
• PSRs private operator service records
• PSRs private operator service records
• PSRs private operator service records
• PSRs private operator service records
• PSRs private operator service records
• PSRs private operator service records
• PSRs private operator service records
• PSRs private operator service records
• PSRs private operator service records
• PSRs private operator
• expanded call detail records EDRs
• expanded private network records EPNRs
• expanded operator service records ESRs
• expanded private operator service records EPOSRs
• Additional records that may be generated through DM include switch event records (SERs) which identify a switch event (e.g., system recovery, time change) and billing data records (BDRs) .
• SERs switch event records
• BDRs billing data records
• This function additionally includes storing call history records on a long term storage and retrieval medium (e.g., tape).
• call history records After each of these call history records are generated, they are transmitted to the appropriate downstream system. For example, in the preferred embodiment, all CDRs, PNRs, OSRs, POSRs, their corresponding expanded versions ECDRs, EPNRs, EOSRs, EPOSRs, and SERs and, BDRs are sent to a system Storage and Verification Element "SAVE" (not shown) for eventual distribution to a Network Information Concentrator (NIC) .
• SAVE Storage and Verification Element
• NIC Network Information Concentrator
• a DM system function provides a verification that SAVE had successfully received each of these call history records.
• DM component 600 provides the ability to monitor the network usage for fraud, and report suspected fraud to an appropriate Fraud Detection system.
• the Billing Record Generation function As an example, the Billing Record Generation function:
• Figure 3 (f ) illustrates generally, the functional architecture of the Data Management component 600 which comprises: a service control server component 605 for making the call service data available at the service node for real-time call processing; and, a database component 607, embodied as a discrete database server, for storing and distributing the selected subset of data maintained by SA.
• a service control server component 605 for making the call service data available at the service node for real-time call processing
• a database component 607 embodied as a discrete database server, for storing and distributing the selected subset of data maintained by SA.
• the service control server component 605 includes a Data Management (DM) Client 610, which is the actual data management application; a DM API 612 which is linked with the DM application and is the interface the DM application uses to obtain data from SA; local cache 615 which is a shared memory on a service control server used to store some or all data from the DBOR Extract available for call processing in accordance with a local caching strategy, and a Cache Manager 620, which maintains the state of the local cache by implementing a local caching strategy and, communicates with the DM server to retrieve data from the DBOR extract.
• the database component 607 includes a DBOR Extract 627 which comprises one or more databases having data to be used by managed object instances during service execution at that node; a DBOR
• Extract Manager 626 that performs the same functions as the DBOR Manager 520 in Service Administration ( Figure 3 (d) ) , but handles a selected subset of the information that SA holds; an SA client 622, which inputs data received from service administration to the DBOR Extract Manager 626; a DDAPI 624 that is the process interface between the SA client 622 and the data distribution process of SA; and, a data management server 625, that generally handles data extracts from the DBOR Extract Manager 626.
• a SLEE several types of functions may need data from Data Management 600 including, but not limited to managed objects (SIBBs, SLPs, etc.) and NOS.
• SIBBs managed objects
• SLPs SLPs
• NOS NOS
• a DM Client 610 uses the DM API 612 to make a request for data as the DM API 612 provides a common message set for all DM Clients to interface with Data Management.
• the DM API 612 also encapsulates from the DM Client the specific location where the data i-s needed, as this data may be stored in a Local Cache 615 or only in the DBOR Extract 627.
• the DM Client 610 requests data by a logical name, and the DM API 612 determines if that data can be retrieved from the local cache or, if it needs to request the data from the DBOR extract via the DM Server.
• the local cache 615 is a shared cache available for every process running, on each SLEE provided in the control server 605, i.e., there may be one or more local caches provided for different applications, e.g., 1- 800 process cache, routing manager cache, etc., with each shared cache having its own respective cache manager.
• the DM API When a DM Client 610 makes a request for data, the DM API first checks the local cache 615 to see if the requested data is stored there. If the requested data is stored in the local cache 615, the DM API retrieves the requested data and provides it to the DM Client 610 using any standard data retrieval technique, such as hashing keys and algorithms, or indexed sequential access methods.
• the associated Cache Manager 620 retrieves the data from the DBOR Extract 627, via the DM Server 625.
• the DM API 612 notifies the Cache Manager 620 that it needs certain data and the Cache Manager responds by sending a request to the DM
• the DM Server 625 retrieves the requested data from the DBOR Extract, using the DBOR Extract Manager 626 for database access.
• the DM Server 625 sends the requested data back to the Cache Manager 620, and the Cache Manager provides the data to the DM Client 610 via the DM API 612.
• the Cache Manager may also write the requested data to the local cache 615, depending upon the local caching strategy which is dependent on both service demands and on the capabilities of the computers they run on, notably the memory capacity. These specifications are obtained from the service and computer profiles generated by Service Administration.
• data cache manager component for the DM 600 of IDNA/NGIN employs a 'Client Side Caching 1 strategy at each service node.
• cache manager routines and logic is implemented essentially in the following manner: 1) the local cache is maintained as a static array in the beginning of the routine; 2) the routine first checks to see if the requested data is in the local cache; 3) if the data is in the local cache, it is formatted and returned to the caller; 4) if the data is not in the local cache, the data is retrieved from the Data Server using a common "QueryServer" routine; and, 5) when data is returned from the Data Server, it is stored in the cache, formatted, and then returned to the caller.
• the "QueryServer" routine formats a query to the Data Server, sends the request, and if it does not receive a response it sends another request. This continues until either a response is received, or until a set number of attempts, at which time the routine will return with an error.
• the code logic exists in a separate process called the 'cache manager' which allocates the cache space dynamically and not as a 'static variable'.
• the cache manager is a generic routine, i.e., it does not contain references to specific tables and data elements.
• the cache manager of the preferred embodiment implements logic to handle many caching strategies and, implements logic for handling unsolicited data messages from the data server.
• Local caching strategies range from storing all data in the Local Cache, to storing nothing but, typically includes a "most recently used” or “most frequently used” strategy.
• provisioning of a local cache is to provide quick data retrieval (using shared memory) for frequently used services
• the local caching strategy is closely tied to the SA service support provisioning function which determines which services to run on which Service Control Servers. More particularly, there are three levels of data caching in the system dependent upon the data characteristics and services that the data is associated with: 1) local level data which implements local caching scheme described herein utilizing the DMAPI, Cache Manager and DM server and DBOR extract devices; 2) node or site level data where the
• DMAPI, Cache Manager and DM server components are implemented for updating the DBOR and sending the change back through the DM server to all of the cache managers at the node; and, 3) network level data where the DMAPI, Cache Manager and DM server components are implemented to send the data up to SA and applied to the central database and down back through SA and all of the DM servers to all of the local caches in the network. It should be understood that there are also two levels of data permanency: 1) permanent data intended to be written into the DBOR; and, 2) transient data to be written to local caches depending upon the characteristics of the data.
• the local caching strategy specifies storage of data for this service in the Local Cache for the specified duration of time in accordance with the configuration file, i.e., a service profile, from SA.
• the DM Server sends the data for that service to the Cache Manager 620 for storing the local cache 615 for the active time.
• the Cache Manager 620 registers itself with the DM Server 625 by specifying which services will be performed. Based on this, the DM Server 625 retrieves from the DBOR Extract 627 and downloads to the Cache Manager 620 the data needed to fulfill the local caching strategy for the services for which the Cache Manager has registered.
• the DM Server 625 knows the local caching strategy for each local cache and the cache manager at its site.
• the DM Server 625 may also provide unsolicited data to the Cache Manager. For example, when a network initiated update occurs, the update may be directed by the DM server directly into its DBOR extract and/or to service administration for validation and distribution to other data management platforms. If the DM Server receives from SA an update, it will send this update to the cache manager for updating the local cache. It should be understood that in this instance, the SA
• Client and DBOR Extract Manager 626 will update the DBOR Extract.
• Data Management provides a process interface between the SA Client and DM Server, for notifying the DM Server of DBOR Extract updates .
• Management component 600 uses commercial database products, most of which provide an interface mechanism such as an API, object request broker, (“ORB”) or network file service. As such, Data Management does not use NOS component 700, however, the Service Control interface to Data Management may be adapted to use NOS.
• ORB object request broker
• Data Management function Since the Data Management function is local to each service node, this function may be physically realized by different object and relational database systems/products throughout the network.
• Example relational database products include those available from Oracle, Informix, and Sybase, in addition to Versant Object Oriented Database products.
• the interface between Service Control and Data Management may be supported by .whichever database system/product is used at a particular service node, and may be different at different nodes.
• NOS The distributed processing that is enabled by NOS occurs among processes in the SLEE, with each process interfacing with its local Data Management component, using whatever interface is in place at the local node .
• the general purpose computer is understood to be a computing device that is not made specifically for one type of application.
• the general purpose computer can be any computing device of any size that can perform the functions required to implement the invention.

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